Puerto Rican Potluck

Puerto Rican cuisine consists of the cooking style and traditional dishes original to Puerto Rico. It has been primarily a fusion influenced by the ancestors of the Puerto Rican people: the indigenous Taínos, Spanish Criollos and sub-Saharan African slaves. As a territory of the United States, the culinary scene of Puerto Rico has also been moderately influenced by American cuisine.
Puerto Rican cuisine is a product of diverse cultural influences, including Taíno Arawak, Spanish Criollos, and Africans.[5] It is characterized by a unique blend of Spanish seasonings and ingredients, which makes it similar to Spanish and other Latin American cuisines.[6][7] Locally, it is known as cocina criolla.[8][9]
The roots of traditional Puerto Rican cuisine can be traced back to the 15th century. In 1848, the first restaurant, La Mallorquina, was opened in Old San Juan.[10] The island's first cookbook, El Cocinero Puerto-Riqueño o Formulario, was published in 1859.[11]
Traditional cooking on the island uses more fresh and local ingredients such as citrus to make mojo and mojito isleño and especially fresh herbs, vegetables and peppers to make recaíto and sofrito.[25]
The base of many Puerto Rican main dishes involves sofrito, similar to the mirepoix of French cooking, or the "trinity" of Creole cooking. A proper sofrito is a sauté of freshly ground garlic, yellow onions, culantro, cilantro, red peppers, cachucha and cubanelle peppers. Sofrito is traditionally cooked with tomato paste or sauce, oil or lard, and cured pork. A mix of stuffed olives and capers called alcaparrado are usually added with dry spices.[26] Adobo in Puerto Rico most traditional refers to a wet rub known as adobo mojado (wet seasoning) of Caribbean oregano, salt, black pepper, garlic, shallot, vinegar, citrus juice and zest.
Adobos come in two forms: dry (adobo seco) and wet (adobo mojado). Both use the same garlic, onion, salt, black pepper, lippia (orégano), and citrus. While adobo seco uses dry ingredients and the option of citrus zest, adobo mojado uses fresh ingredients mixed with olive oil, vinegar, and citrus juice. Both of these forms of adobo are typically rubbed on meats and fish. Adobo seco is considered more of an all-purpose seasoning used for most typically Puerto Rican dishes.
Sazón, like adobo, is widely used in Puerto Rican cuisine. It is traditionally made with cumin, salt, annatto powder, and coriander seeds, with the option of paprika, turmeric, crushed bay leaves or avocado leaves.
Sorfito and recaíto are used in the same way but with minor differences, as recaito is heavier on the herb culantro known as recao on the island thus giving its name recaito. The base is a puree made with a large amount or both cilantro and culantro, green bell peppers, garlic, yellow onions or scallions, oregano brujo, cachucha and recently parsely.
Annatto oil is made from steeping annatto seeds with oil or lard with olive oil used mostly and sometimes steeped with bay leaves. It is used for signature dishes adding a bright yellow-orange color and smoky peppery taste to pasteles, arroz con gandlues, alcapurrias, arroz junto, used to sear meats for stews and soups.

Source: Puerto Rican cuisine - Wikipedia